Our flight home from San Jose
to Boston was planned to leave at 6:30 a.m., so we made plans to stay close to the airport the night before. It’s sort of a
bummer to have to end your vacation a day early, so I decided we could splurge
for one night at the pricey Xandari Resort so that we would have something to
look forward to.
After breakfast (and a
yoga class for Mohit), we said goodbye to Encantada Ocean Cottages (see blog post about our stay here!) and hit the
road for a 2.25-hr drive to the hills above San Jose. The approach to Xandari is up narrow residential
roads, up, up into the hills, until we came to a stop at a big metal gate,
which a security guard opened to let us through. We’d arrived just in time for lunch and
everyone was hungry so we parked the car at the main lodge and stayed for lunch
on a balcony with beautiful views over the San Jose valley.
Our room was
stunning. Enormous, cavernous
almost. A king size bed and two twin day
beds. A private patio with views of the
valley. The bathroom had a floor-to-ceiling
wall of glass, including a glass shower and a soaking tub, overlooking a
private walled rock garden. Plush bathrobes and slippers.
We changed into our
bathing suits and went off to find the pool.
The paths through the resort wind through densely planted gardens with
big tropical foliage, flowers, and periodic sculptures. We found the “sunset pool” to be scenic, but
not quite luxurious. There were no pool towels
for us to use, the deck chairs were a
bit weathered, and the view from the edge while lounging in the water is of the
solar panels and electrical equipment positioned just downhill. There were no other guests anywhere to be
seen. The kids got bored quickly and so
we went off to explore the rest of the resort.
To be honest, that was
consistent with our general impression of Xandari. It is a picturesque resort, with oversized
and comfortable rooms. It’s a quiet,
pretty, and peaceful place with beautiful landscaping. Maybe I would have enjoyed a few days reading
a book with skyline views from our patio and getting pampered at the spa. But we were there with our kids, and there wasn’t
much there for them to do. We enjoyed a
half hour exploring the nature trails on the property, but we ran out of things
to do with the kids with only a half day there.
Yes, there are 3 pools, but there was no one else in them. There was a “game room” on the map but it was
locked, and when we inquired about a key, we were told there was really only a
pool table there. There were a few board
games available to borrow at the office.
The restaurant was filled with mostly older couples, only one other
family with kids.
Early the next morning, it was indeed a short and easy ride downhill and into the city to drop off our rental car and get to the airport on time. I don’t regret that we
were able to enjoy our last night in Costa Rica in lovely surroundings, but I
can’t say that I would highly recommend Xandari as a great place to enjoy with
little kids. 
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